Volleyball Takes Down UCF in Five

ORLANDO – Pushed to a fifth set after holding a 2-1 lead, the LSU volleyball team won the decisive final set, 15-5, to take down the host UCF Knights Friday night at the Venue.

The Tigers defeated the Knights 22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 15-5 and improved to 4-4 with the win. LSU dropped the Knights to 6-3 and halted a three-match win streak.

LSU hit .571 in the final set with nine kills and just one error. Junior Katie Kampen led off the set serving and helped push the Tigers to a 7-0 lead. LSU took advantage of five UCF errors and its -.154 hitting percentage.

LSU returns to action Saturday at 10 a.m. CT against Florida Atlantic for its final match of the UCF Classic.

Flory’s Thoughts“I am super proud of the fight that we showed today. We were finally able to get our offense going in multiple positions, which is great to see. Anna (Zwiebel) set two very solid matches and grew up quite a bit today. Ultimately, our serving was the determining factor and that too was exciting to see. We have to prepare well for a very solid FAU team tomorrow.”

Opening SetThe first set featured 12 tie scores and there lead changes. Freshman Anna Zwiebel led the Tigers with double-digit assists at 11. The Tigers committed just four errors and finished the frame with 13 kills. The Tigers closed the UCF lead to 19-18 but the Knights ultimately won 25-22.

Second SetLSU hit .379 in the set and limited UCF to a .061 hitting percentage. Gina Tillis led the way for the squad with five kills. After UCF tied the set at one, the Tigers never relinquished the lead. The Knights closed in at 16-19 but the Tigers took hold of the set and ultimately evened the match.

Third SetAfter the break, LSU took the momentum in another thriller. The Tigers hit .233 in the set with 13 kills and three errors. Tillis once again led the way for LSU with five kills. Zwiebel also reached double-digit assists once again with 12. After an attacking error by LSU notched the set at 22, the Tigers took a timeout and rattled of three of the next four points to take a 2-1 lead overall.

Fourth SetThe Knights took advantage of LSU’s .077 hitting percentage to even the match at two overall. The two squads went back and forth with nine tie scores and five lead changes. With a 23-22 lead, UCF used two LSU errors to force the match to a fifth set.

Team Notes>> Gina Tillis finished with her fourth double-double of the season after totaling 21 kills and 11 digs.

>> Freshman Anna Zwiebel totaled a season-best 50 assists in the match. Zwiebel was one dig away (9) from completing her second consecutive double-double. She also became the first LSU player since 2014 to finish with more than 50 assists in a match.

>> Cheyenne Wood led the team with 16 digs. Kelly Quinn followed in second with 14 and Tillis finished in third with her 11.

>> Khourtni Fears continued her hot weekend with 15 kills and a .379 hitting percentage. Fears also finished with seven blocking assists.

>> LSU lost the first set in a win for the second time this season.

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